Latest news on Russia and the war in Ukraine

A trip by Russia’s foreign minister to Serbia has been canceled after several European countries would not allow the plane to travel to the southeastern European country.

Bulgaria, North Macedonia and Montenegro closed their airspace so that Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov’s official plane could not travel to Serbia’s capital Belgrade.

Lavrov described the move to block his plane as “unprecedented” and “outrageous” and said he had not received an explanation for the decision, according to comments reported by Russian state news agency TASS.

He said that he would instead invite his Serbian counterpart to visit him in Moscow, commenting that “the main thing is no one will be able to destroy our relations with Serbia,” a country with which Russia has strong ties.

— Holly Ellyatt

The situation in Severodonetsk, the focus of intense fighting in eastern Ukraine between Russian forces and Ukrainian troops, has “deteriorated somewhat,” according to the governor of the Luhansk region.

“The fighting is very dynamic,” Serhiy Haidai, governor of the eastern Luhansk province, said in an update on Telegram on Monday.

“Half of the city was recaptured during the counteroffensive, but we are now holding positions in the industrial zone,” he said, adding that the amount of shelling in the Severodonetsk and Lysychansk cities has “increased tenfold.”

He said that there are a number of cities in the Luhansk region that are in a situation comparable to Mariupol, the heavily destroyed southern port city now in the hands of Russia.

“Now the Russians are leveling Sievierodonetsk and Lysychansk to the ground,” he said.

CNBC was unable to immediately verify the information.

— Holly Ellyatt

Heavy fighting is continuing around the contested town of Severodonetsk in eastern Ukraine, Britain’s Ministry of Defense said in its daily intelligence update.

In addition, Russian forces continue to push toward Sloviansk as part of their attempted encirclement of Ukrainian forces, the ministry said.

Russian forces are also likely to have moved multiple air defense assets to Snake Island in the western Black Sea in order to provide protection for its ships operating in the area, according to the ministry. That follows the loss of the flagship Moskva cruiser in April.

“Russia’s activity on Snake Island contributes to its blockade of the Ukrainian coast and hinders the resumption of maritime trade, including exports of Ukrainian grain,” the U.K. said.

— Holly Ellyatt

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited front line areas where his country’s troops are fighting against invading Russian forces, Sky News reported Monday.

Zelenskyy went to Lysychansk and Soledar in Ukraine’s east, where Russia is using indiscriminate rocket and artillery attacks against wide areas. The cities are in Luhansk and Donetsk, respectively.

The Ukrainian president earlier visited Zaporizhzhia, Sky said. That city is on the Dnipro River, near the southern front facing Russian troops.

Video circulating on Twitter claimed to show Zelenskyy visiting positions near Lysychansk, where he handed out commendations to Ukrainian soldiers.

CNBC was unable to confirm the veracity of that video.

— Ted Kemp

Britain is sending Ukraine multiple-launch rocket systems that can strike targets up to 50 miles away — in a coordinated response with the U.S. to Russia’s invasion, Reuters reported.

“These highly capable multiple-launch rocket systems will enable our Ukrainian friends to better protect themselves against the brutal use of long-range artillery, which (Russian President Vladimir) Putin’s forces have used indiscriminately to flatten cities,” Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said in a statement, according to Reuters.

The U.S. also said last week it is supplying Ukraine with High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems. Rockets from the HIMARS can travel more than 43 miles, according to the U.S. army.

The U.K. said Ukrainian forces will be trained on how to use the new systems in Britain, according to Reuters.

— Chelsea Ong

Roughly 800 people are hiding across several bomb shelters located underneath the Azot chemical factory in Severodonetsk, the head of the Luhansk region military administration told CNN.

“There are locals there, who were asked to leave the city,” Serhiy Haidai told the news outlet. “But they refused. There are also children there, but not many of them.”

NBC News could not immediately verify the claims.

Regional Ukrainian officials later said that Russian forces fired on the Azot factory and hit an administrative building and a warehouse where methanol was stored, CNN reported.

Severodonetsk is now split between Russian and Ukrainian control, Haidai said, according to an NBC News translation.

— Jessica Bursztynsky

Several explosions were heard in Ukraine’s capital Kyiv after missile strikes on infrastructure, the city’s mayor said, according to an NBC News translation.

Mayor Vitaliy Klychko said one person was sent to the hospital and that services were already working on the affected sites.

The mayor of another city in the region, Brovary, also urged residents to remain calm and in safe places after reports of enemy fire in the area.

CNBC was not able to confirm the report. Military developments on the ground remain difficult to confirm in a rapidly shifting situation.

— Christine Wang

Russian President Vladimir Putin issued a broad warning to the West that his military will strike new targets if the U.S. starts supplying Ukraine with longer-range missiles, the TASS news agency reported.

Putin said in an interview aired on the Russia-1 TV channel that if those weapons are supplied: “We will draw the relevant conclusions and take our own means of attack, which, for the purpose of hitting the objects which we have not been hitting so far, we have enough of.”

Putin did not elaborate on what targets he would attempt to strike.

Ukrainian officials have been asking the West for weeks to send advanced, longer-range rocket systems to aid them in the war. Officials in Washington have had to weigh the benefits of sending the weapons with the risk of provoking Putin into committing further atrocities.

President Joe Biden said in a New York Times op-ed last Thursday the U.S. would provide Ukraine with more advanced rocket systems and munitions.

— Jessica Bursztynsky